Phosphonium Salts as Chiral Phase-Transfer Catalysts: Asymmetric Michael and Mannich Reactions of 3-Aryloxindoles

Diastereoselective tandem oxidation/Michael/aldol reaction: unprecedented formation of dispirocyclopentanebisoxindoles and dispiro[acenaphthylene-1,1'-cyclopentane-3',1''-acenaphthylene]-2,2''diones

An unprecedented tandem oxidation/Michael/aldol reaction is reported. The diastereoselective formation of only a single isomer of dispirocyclopentanebisoxindole and dispiro[acenaphthylene-1,1'-cyclopentane-3',1''-acenaphthylene]-2,2''dione is presented. The reaction generates two new C-C bonds and two all-carbon quaternary chiral stereocenters in a single step.

Nucleophilic 1,1-Difluoroethylation with Fluorinated Phosphonium Salt

The fluorinated phosphonium salt (Ph3P+CF2CH3 BF4-) was shown to act as a nucleophilic 1,1-difluoroethylation agent to enable difluoroethylation of aldehydes and imines.

Chiral ammonium betaine-catalyzed asymmetric Mannich-type reaction of oxindoles

A highly diastereo- and enantioselective Mannich-type reaction of 3-aryloxindoles with N-Boc aldimines was achieved under the catalysis of axially chiral ammonium betaines. This catalytic method provides a new tool for the construction of consecutive quaternary and tertiary stereogenic carbon centers on biologically intriguing molecular frameworks with high fidelity.

Direct Catalytic Asymmetric Mannich Reactions for the Construction of Quaternary Carbon Stereocenters

Herein, we report a Zn-ProPhenol catalyzed Mannich reaction using α-branched ketones as nucleophilic partners for the direct enantio- and diastereoselective construction of quaternary carbon stereocenters. The reaction can be run on a gram-scale with a low catalyst loading without impacting its efficiency. Moreover, the Mannich adducts can be further elaborated with complete diastereocontrol to access molecules possessing complex stereotriads.

Concise Total Synthesis of (+)-Asperazine, (+)-Pestalazine A, and (+)-iso-Pestalazine A. Structure Revision of (+)-Pestalazine A

The concise, enantioselective total syntheses of (+)-asperazine (1), (+)-iso-pestalazine A (2), and (+)-pestalazine A (3) have been achieved by the development of a late-stage C3-C8' Friedel-Crafts union of polycyclic diketopiperazines. Our modular strategy enables the union of complex polycyclic diketopiperazines in virtually their final forms, thus providing rapid and highly convergent assembly at the challenging quaternary stereocenter of these dimeric alkaloids. The significance of this carbon-carbon bond formation can be gauged by the manifold constraints that were efficiently overcome, namely the substantial steric crowding at both reactive sites, the nucleophilic addition of C8' over N1' to the C3 carbocation, and the multitude of reactivity posed by the use of complex diketopiperazine fragments in the coupling event. The success of the indoline π-nucleophile that evolved through our studies is notable given the paucity of competing reaction pathways observed in the presence of the highly reactive C3 carbocation generated. This first total synthesis of (+)-pestalazine A also allowed us to revise the molecular structure for this natural alkaloid.

Asymmetric addition of α-branched cyclic ketones to allenamides catalyzed by a chiral phosphoric acid

Asymmetric addition of unactivated α-branched cyclic ketones to allenamides catalyzed by a chiral phosphoric acid catalyst, generates an all-carbon quaternary stereocenter with broad substrate scope and high enantioselectivity.

We describe the asymmetric addition of unactivated α-branched cyclic ketones to allenamides catalyzed by a chiral phosphoric acid, generating an all-carbon quaternary stereocenter with broad substrate scope and high enantioselectivity. The products are easily transformed into their corresponding 1,5- and 1,4-ketoaldehyde derivatives, which are both important building blocks in organic synthesis.

A new generation of chiral phase-transfer catalysts

Phase-transfer catalysis has long been recognized as a versatile method for organic synthesis. In particular, over more than the past three decades, asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis based on the use of structurally well-defined chiral catalysts has become a topic of great scientific interest. Although various effective chiral catalysts have already been reported and these catalysts were utilized for practical asymmetric transformations, further design and development of new chiral phase-transfer catalysts are still attractive research subjects in organic chemistry due to the high utility and practicability of phase-transfer-catalyzed reactions. This review focuses on the recent examples of newly designed effective chiral phase-transfer catalysts.

NBS-mediated dinitrogen extrusion of diazoacetamides under catalyst-free conditions: practical access to 3-bromooxindole derivatives

A synthetically useful reaction via NBS-mediated dinitrogen extrusion of N-aryl diazoacetamides under catalyst-free conditions is disclosed, which gives the 3-bromooxindoles in high to excellent yields with high selectivity via a non carbene process.

An asymmetric pericyclic cascade approach to 3-alkyl-3-aryloxindoles: generality, applications and mechanistic investigations

The reaction of L-serine derived N-arylnitrones with alkylarylketenes generates asymmetric 3-alkyl-3-aryloxindoles in good to excellent yields (up to 93%) and excellent enantioselectivity (up to 98% ee) via a pericyclic cascade process. The optimization, scope and applications of this transformation are reported, alongside further synthetic and computational investigations. The preparation of the enantiomer of a Roche anti-cancer agent (RO4999200) 1 (96% ee) in three steps demonstrates the potential utility of this methodology.

3-Pyrrolyl-oxindoles as efficient nucleophiles for organocatalytic asymmetric synthesis of structurally diverse 3,3′-disubstituted oxindole derivatives

An organocatalytic asymmetric reaction of 3-pyrrolyl-oxindoles to nitroalkenes was developed to afford a range of 3-pyrrolyl-3,3′-disubstituted oxindoles in excellent yields.

Thiourea-catalyzed enantioselective addition of indoles to pyrones: alkaloid cores with quaternary carbons

We report the development of a catalytic method for the enantioselective addition of indoles to pyrone-derived electrophiles. Arylpyrrolidino-derived thioureas catalyze the addition with high stereoselectivity in the presence of catalytic quantities of an achiral Brønsted acid. The indole-pyrone adducts feature a quaternary stereocenter and represent an unusual class of indolines bearing structural resemblance to the hybrid natural product pleiocarpamine.

Regioselective hydroarylation reactions of C3 electrophilic N-acetylindoles activated by FeCl3: an entry to 3-(hetero)arylindolines

A method for the direct and rare umpolung of the 3 position of indoles is reported. The activation of N-acetylindole with iron(III) chloride allows the C-H addition of aromatic and heteroaromatic substrates to the C2=C3 double bond of the indole nucleus to generate a quaternary center at C3 and leads regioselectively to 3-arylindolines. Optimization, scope (50 examples), practicability (gram scale, air atmosphere, room temperature), and mechanistic insights of this process are presented. Synthetic transformations of the indoline products into drug-like compounds are also described.